I see more arguments on an average day in Boston than I’d see in an entire year in the Midwest. Some of these altercations can be chalked up to population density (in the city center) or meth use (in my neighborhood). But others seem to spring from something embedded in the culture. What would earn you a silent grimace in Michigan lands you in a profanity-laced screaming contest in Massachusetts.

That’s not to say the Midwest is perfect, because God (and recent voting results) knows it’s not. But people there are, on the whole, less likely to become homicidally enraged because someone gave money to a homeless person outside Tedeschi.

Today’s book is called How to Get Her to Watch Sports, Have Snuggles, and Call Her Best Friend for a Chat.

Except that’s not what it’s called. What it’s actually called, I have to put under a cut, because for some reason I still insist on operating under the pretense that this blog is safe for work. Continue reading →